The flat, heavily lobed squash from southern France averages 15 to 20 pounds each. I get an average of four squashes per vine. They mature to a lovely combination of brown, blue-green, orange and pinkish yellow. I love pie, and this squash is particularly well-suited for that use. Its deep orange flesh is dense, sweet and full-flavored.
'Musquee de Provence' is easy to grow and stores beautifully without fuss. Three of these squashes still rest in my kitchen after harvest in 2008, none the worse for wear. They will not survive the 2009 holidays, however, because I will purée them, mix with cream, eggs, spices, pecans and some rum, then drape in pastry and bake. Can't wait!
'Musquee de Provence,' aka 'Muscade de Provence,' is open-pollinated and takes 100 to 110 days until harvest. I'll grow this one every year. Order early.PLANTING:⇒ Choose a site in full sun with rich, well-drained soil and thoroughly weed the bed before planting. Build hills on 6-foot centers. Each hill should be a foot wide with 7 to 8 feet between rows of hills. Mix in 1 to 1½ cups of balanced, organic fertilizer along the outer edge of each hill. The hills will help warm the soil around young roots.
Plant five to six seeds directly into the hills in spring after the average last-frost date when the soil temperature is at least 60 degrees.⇐ Bury the seeds, pointed end down, in a circle 1 inch deep. When seedlings emerge, clip off all but the strongest three or four in each hill.
CARE: Keep squash well-watered for large, healthy fruit but avoid overhead watering because it fosters mildew. Dilute fish and kelp foliar drenches monthly during warm, dry weather are the exception.
HARVEST: Pick winter squash when its skin is very hard to put your fingernail through. To boost the sugar content, harvest after fall's first light frost.
Harvest seeds at least three weeks after the squash is mature. Leave squash on the vine for that time, but watch weather forecasts for temperatures in the 20s and harvest in time to avoid damage by a hard freeze. Then store squash on newspaper in an unheated room. When you're ready to eat one, remove the seeds, wash them off and separate them from strings and flesh. Lay the seeds out on paper towels for several days or weeks until dry and stiff. Then seal in tight jars, label with name and date, and store the jar in a cool, dark place.
• Row covers can be used to extend the season but can exacerbate mildew during a wet fall.
• When harvesting, carefully prune the stem to about 1 inch long. Squash store better with their stems on, but a 1-inch stem is less vulnerable to snapping off.
• Squashes of same species will cross-pollinate, so you have to grow only single cultivars of any species to maintain pure seeds.
• An immature squash can be eaten but will not store well.
• Some or all of the seeds of squashes kept for long periods will have germinated inside the fruit, so harvest seeds from earlier squash to assure seeds for the next year.
Seed Savers Exchange: 563-382-5990
Or e-mail me for free seeds; I'll give them away as long as they last.
-- Freelance writer Vern Nelson